There has never been a bourbon quite like this. Not even close.
A small independent bottler out of Vergennes, Vermont just pulled off something that nobody in the American whiskey industry had ever done before — they blended straight bourbon from all 50 states into a single bottle. Every state. Hawaii to Alaska. Rhode Island to Texas. One distillery representing each, hand-picked after years of traveling the country and tasting through countless barrels.
The project is called the United States of Bourbon, and it comes from Lost Lantern Whiskey, a company that has quietly built one of the more respected reputations in American whiskey over the past several years. This release, though, is something on a completely different level.
Years in the Making Before the Company Even Launched
Lost Lantern was founded by husband-and-wife team Adam Polonski and Nora Ganley-Roper, who started the company with the idea of doing what Scottish independent bottlers have done for centuries — seek out great whiskey made by others, bottle it with full transparency, and let the liquid speak for itself. But even before Lost Lantern officially opened its doors, the idea for a 50-state bourbon blend was already rattling around in Polonski's head.
"The United States of Bourbon has truly been years in the making and has been part of the vision for Lost Lantern since before we launched the company," Polonski said. "From the earliest stages of dreaming up Lost Lantern, we envisioned crafting a fifty-state blend to showcase the diversity and breadth of bourbon."
The sourcing work began in 2021 and continued through 2025. Polonski didn't outsource the vetting or rely on brokers to send samples. He visited every single distillery in the blend himself — all 50 of them — across all 50 states. That's the kind of commitment that separates a marketing concept from a genuine passion project.
Ganley-Roper, who handles the blending side of the operation, describes what she was going for when she put this together. "This is certainly the most ambitious whiskey Lost Lantern has ever made," she said. "But it has also always had true clarity of vision. I blended this to give a bird's-eye view of bourbon from across the country. This whiskey provides a snapshot of the complexity and current landscape of bourbon."
That phrase — snapshot — comes up more than once when the two founders talk about this project. That's exactly what it is. A photograph in liquid form of where American bourbon stands right now, in 2026, at a moment when the industry has expanded to places that would have seemed absurd to previous generations.
Bourbon Is Everywhere Now. That's the Point.
For most of American history, bourbon meant Kentucky. Maybe a little Tennessee. That was the mental map most people carried around, and it wasn't entirely wrong — the Bluegrass State has dominated bourbon production for so long that it's practically written into law.
But the craft distilling movement changed everything. Over the past two decades, small distilleries have been popping up in states that had no real whiskey tradition at all. Idaho. Wyoming. North Dakota. Hawaii. Alaska. Places where the climate, the grain, the water, and the people behind the still create something that couldn't come from anywhere else.
The United States of Bourbon leans into that reality hard. The blend pulls from coastal distilleries where salt air off the ocean works its way into the aging barrels. It includes estate operations where families grow their own grain and control every step of production from field to bottle. There's bourbon from states with deep moonshining roots, where people have been making illicit whiskey in the hills for generations and that culture seeps into the legal stuff too. And there are distilleries so new that some of them didn't exist when Polonski first started sketching out this idea.
That range of backgrounds, traditions, and approaches is what makes this blend conceptually interesting — and what makes Ganley-Roper's job as blender genuinely difficult. Getting 50 very different bourbons to work together as a cohesive whole without any one of them dominating or getting lost is a serious technical challenge.
Three Bottles, Three Experiences
The inaugural launch comes with three separate expressions, and they're not just the same liquid at different proofs. The 1776 Edition is its own thing entirely.
United States of Bourbon 100 Proof
Image credit: Lost Lantern
The most accessible entry point into this project is the 100 Proof expression, priced at $79.99. It contains straight bourbon from all 50 states, blended in Vermont and brought down slowly to 50% ABV — a process called slow-proofing that matters more than people often realize. Rather than dumping water into the barrel or blend all at once, gradual proofing gives the liquid time to integrate and keeps the flavor intact.
The result, according to Lost Lantern's tasting notes, opens with warm vanilla and wood spice on the nose, with nutmeg and clove underneath. On the palate, chocolate shows up alongside raspberry and orange zest. It's described as balanced and deep.
Only 6,780 bottles were produced for this first release. The youngest component in the blend is two years old, and the oldest has been aging for a decade, giving Ganley-Roper a wide range of maturity levels to work with. It comes out non-chill filtered with no added color, which is standard for Lost Lantern across their lineup — they don't believe in messing with the whiskey more than necessary.
United States of Bourbon Cask Strength
Image credit: Lost Lantern
For those who want the full, uncut experience, the Cask Strength expression runs at 122.9 proof and retails for $99.99. It's the same 50-state blend as the 100 Proof, but nothing has been watered down. What goes into the bottle is exactly what came out of the blending vessel.
At that proof, the nose is rich with wood spice and vanilla. The palate opens up into oak, spice, and fruit that Ganley-Roper describes as intermixing into a deep and balanced whole — black raspberry, dark chocolate, and leather coming through. It's a bigger, bolder experience that rewards a little water added by hand if the proof feels like too much, but serious bourbon drinkers who prefer their whiskey untouched will find plenty to dig into here.
Only 3,300 bottles were made, making it roughly half the production run of the 100 Proof. Same age range, same non-chill filtered and no color added approach.
United States of Bourbon 1776 Edition
Image credit: Lost Lantern
This is the one that only exists once.
The 1776 Edition was created specifically to mark America's 250th birthday in 2026, and it takes a fundamentally different approach than the other two expressions. Rather than drawing from all 50 states, this blend pulls only from the original 13 — the colonies that broke away from Britain and formed the United States in the first place.
Those 13 distilleries are: Painted Stave Distilling in Delaware, Liberty Pole Spirits in Pennsylvania, Sourland Mountain Spirits in New Jersey, ASW Fiddler Distillery in Georgia, Litchfield Distillery in Connecticut, Triple Eight Distillery in Massachusetts, Baltimore Spirits Co. in Maryland, High Wire Distilling Co. in South Carolina, Cathedral Ledge Distillery in New Hampshire, Reservoir Distillery in Virginia, Kings County Distillery in New York, Broad Branch Distillery in North Carolina, and South County Distillers in Rhode Island.
There's something worth sitting with in that list. These aren't the legacy distilleries of Kentucky or the big names most bourbon drinkers recognize on sight. These are craft operations scattered across states that aren't typically associated with whiskey at all. But all 13 of those original states have an active bourbon-making community today, and Lost Lantern found the best of them.
The 1776 Edition is bottled at cask strength — 121.4 proof — and the age range is more mature than the 50-state expressions. The youngest whiskey in this blend is four years old, and the oldest has been aging for eight years. That extra time in the barrel shows in the tasting profile, which includes orange zest, dark chocolate, and walnut on the nose, with fruit and spice on the palate, hints of fresh-baked bread, notes of leather, and a very long, spicy finish.
The price is $199.99, and exactly 1,776 hand-numbered bottles were produced. Once they're gone, that's it. Lost Lantern has stated explicitly that this release will never be repeated. When the 250th anniversary year is over and those bottles have found their homes, the 1776 Edition ceases to exist.
The Full List of 50 Distilleries
One of the things Lost Lantern takes pride in is transparency, and that extends to the label itself. Every distillery that contributed to the blend is printed on the bottle — no vague sourcing language, no hiding where the whiskey came from.
The full roster, listed in order of statehood, covers the entire map: Painted Stave Distilling in Delaware, Liberty Pole Spirits in Pennsylvania, Sourland Mountain Spirits in New Jersey, ASW Fiddler Distillery in Georgia, Litchfield Distillery in Connecticut, Triple Eight Distillery in Massachusetts, Baltimore Spirits Co. in Maryland, High Wire Distilling Co. in South Carolina, Cathedral Ledge Distillery in New Hampshire, Reservoir Distillery in Virginia, Kings County Distillery in New York, Broad Branch Distillery in North Carolina, and South County Distillers in Rhode Island — all 13 of which also appear in the 1776 Edition. Then continuing: Stonecutter Spirits in Vermont, New Riff Distilling in Kentucky, Leiper's Fork Distillery in Tennessee, Tom's Foolery Distillery in Ohio, Distillerie Acadian in Louisiana, Starlight Distillery in Indiana, Rich Grain Distilling in Mississippi, Whiskey Acres Distilling Co. in Illinois, Dread River Distilling Co. in Alabama, Hardshore Distilling Co. in Maine, J. Rieger & Co. in Missouri, Rock Town Distillery in Arkansas, New Holland Distilling Co. in Michigan, St. Augustine Distillery in Florida, Balcones Distilling in Texas, Cedar Ridge Distillery in Iowa, Wollersheim Distillery in Wisconsin, Corbin Cash Distillery in California, Far North Spirits in Minnesota, Oregon Spirit Distillers in Oregon, Union Horse Distilling Co. in Kansas, Smooth Ambler Spirits in West Virginia, Frey Ranch Distillery in Nevada, Brickway Distillery in Nebraska, Boulder Spirits in Colorado, Proof Artisan Distillers in North Dakota, Blackfork Farms in South Dakota, Montgomery Distillery in Montana, Woodinville Whiskey Co. in Washington, Day's Defile in Idaho, Backwards Distilling Co. in Wyoming, High West Distillery in Utah, Hochatown Distilling in Oklahoma, Safe House Distilling in New Mexico, SanTan Distilling in Arizona, Denali Spirits in Alaska, and Ko'olau Distillery in Hawaii.
That's a lot of names. But for whiskey enthusiasts, that list is a rabbit hole. How many of those distilleries have you heard of? How many have you tried? The United States of Bourbon becomes, among other things, a discovery tool — a way to find out that there's excellent whiskey being made in states you never would have thought to look.
Who Is Lost Lantern, Anyway?
For those not familiar with the company, Lost Lantern has been building its reputation in American whiskey circles since it launched. The model is borrowed from Scottish tradition — an independent bottler doesn't make whiskey itself, but instead finds exceptional casks from distilleries that do, purchases them, and releases them under its own label.
It sounds simple. It isn't. Doing it well requires deep relationships with distilleries, a sophisticated palate for evaluating raw new make and aged whiskey, and the kind of patience to wait years for the right barrel to become available. Ganley-Roper handles the blending and sensory side. Polonski handles the sourcing and the relationships.
The results have been recognized in a serious way. Lost Lantern was named Independent Bottler of the Year at the 2026 Icons of Whisky America Awards — the second time they've received that particular honor, having also won it at the 2023 Global Icons of Whisky Awards. Both founders have been recognized as Drinks Visionaries of the Year by Food & Wine Magazine and Drinks Innovators of the Year by SevenFifty Daily.
The company operates out of Vergennes, Vermont, a small city on Lake Champlain that is not what anyone would picture as the headquarters for an operation this ambitious. But that's part of what makes Lost Lantern interesting. They're not part of any established whiskey geography. They're outside all of it, which might be part of why they were able to look at the whole map with fresh eyes.
Where to Find It
The United States of Bourbon is available through Lost Lantern's own website at LostLanternWhiskey.com, as well as through Seelbachs.com, which is one of the better-known online retailers for American craft whiskey. Retail availability spans California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia. Anyone in the Vergennes area can also pick up bottles directly at the Lost Lantern tasting room.
Given the limited production numbers — especially on the 1776 Edition — interested buyers shouldn't sit on this too long.
Why This Release Matters Beyond the Bottle
There's a version of this story that's just about a cool bottle of whiskey. A novelty item. A conversation starter on a home bar shelf. And honestly, even at that level, the United States of Bourbon delivers — it's a genuinely interesting thing to pour for guests and have a conversation about.
But the bigger story here is what the existence of this project says about where American bourbon has arrived.
Twenty years ago, you couldn't have made this blend. Not because nobody had the idea, but because the infrastructure didn't exist. There wasn't a credible bourbon distillery in every state. There wasn't enough variety in geography, climate, grain, and approach to make a 50-state blend worth doing. You would have ended up with some excellent Kentucky bourbon and a bunch of mediocre fillers from places that were just getting started.
That's not the situation in 2026. American craft distilling has matured to the point where Polonski could travel to all 50 states and find something genuinely worth putting in this bottle at each stop. That's the real story the United States of Bourbon is telling — not just about the whiskey in the glass, but about the industry that produced it.
The timing with America's 250th anniversary gives the whole project a resonance that it might not have had in a different year. The country is marking a quarter millennium of existence, and somewhere in that reflection is this: the thing that was once confined to a handful of counties in Kentucky has now spread to every corner of the map, adapted to local conditions and local people, and become something bigger and more varied than anyone who drank bourbon in 1976 could have imagined.
That's worth a glass.
